Backlash (Winter's Wrath #1)

by Bianca Sommerland

  “Come on, Alder. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the EMT.” Jesse met his eyes. And took a step back at whatever he saw there. “Shit man, what’s going on?”

  “It’s you. That’s why Danica’s been so quiet and sad lately.” Alder groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. “She thinks she’ll lose me to you.”

  “Well, she’s wrong. I’m with your brother.” Jesse nudged Alder toward the greenroom. “Make that clear to her and she won’t need to worry.”

  “I thought I had.” Alder’s shoulder dropped as he let Jesse shove him toward the table in the center of the room, where an old, bald guy was sitting with some kind of forms laid out before him and a huge first aid kit by his elbow.

  He sat down, half listening to the old man as he explained that Alder had to sign a waiver to get the cut taken care of. He glanced over the forms and signed at the bottom of each page.

  Then he leaned back while the EMT tossed the towel aside and began cleaning the cut. He winced at the sting, but his mind was racing and he really needed to figure out how he’d fucked up so badly.

  “Alder, listen to me.” Jesse put his hand on Alder’s shoulder. “That girl is in love with you. And I think you love her too.”

  “I do.” Alder pressed his eyes shut. “But I’ve done a shitty job proving that if she thinks I want someone else.”

  Jesse sat back and his lips thinned. “You didn’t do anything wrong. This is all on me.”

  “You? How is any of this on you?”

  “She’s noticed things aren’t great with me and Brave. And she’s asked about me and you.” Jesse dropped his hand to his knees, staring at the floor as he tightened his grip. “I told her stuff.”

  “Stuff?” Alder held still as the EMT began placing butterfly stitches along the cut. He tried to figure out what the hell Jesse could have said to make Danica question their relationship. “What stuff?”

  “Nothing much. Just about us making out that once.” Jesse’s lips twitched up slightly. “We were joking around. I figured it was no big deal.”

  “Our friendship means everything to me. And maybe that could have lead to more, but I was too fucking scared to risk it.”

  That was what Jesse had said to Danica.

  Alder had fallen asleep and pretty much forgotten the whole thing, because he’d figured it was no big deal too.

  Jesse had never acted like he wanted more. Their friendship was enough.

  Apparently, Danica didn’t agree.

  “Tell the guys I’ll be there in a bit.” This wasn’t right. Of all the things to go wrong in their relationship, lack of communication was not going to be one of them. “I’m going to work this out.”

  As he stood, Jesse pressed down on his shoulder. “You’re already running late. Work it out after the show.”

  He stayed put as the doctor put a dressing over the cut. “Don’t you think she’s been upset long enough?”

  “I think she’s going to be fucking pissed if a misunderstanding affects either of your jobs.”

  Very true.

  He waited to be dismissed by the doctor, then headed for backstage, doing up his sleeveless black dress shirt on the way to save time.

  Only to find Brave wasn’t even there yet.

  “He’s on his way.” Malakai said in response to his questioning glance, while tuning his guitar. “Cole brought in a journalist to do an exclusive with Brave. He suggested the rest of us get started without him.”

  “Sounds good.” Sounds like I could have taken a minute to clear things up with Danica.

  Malakai jerked his chin at Alder, his eyes on Alder’s chest. “You good?”

  “Yeah. Just paid for opening my stupid mouth.” He clenched his teeth as Jesse handed him his guitar. He wasn’t thrilled with how Jesse had handled the situation either. “About several things.”

  Cocking his head, Malakai nodded slowly. Then abruptly smiled. “I think you’re forgiven.”

  Danica sprinted onto the stage, stopping short in front of him and catching her breath. He handed his guitar back to Jesse and pulled her in his arms.

  She flattened her hands against his shoulders to keep herself away from his chest. “Careful.”

  “I will be.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “That was quick?”

  She licked her dark red stained lips and nodded. “I asked her to hurry. She was nice about it—I told her I needed to talk to you before the show or I’d be worried and mess up the dance or something.”

  “Is it about me asking you to live with me? I only meant—”

  “Yes.” Danica giggled, tugging his hair when he dropped his gaze. She pressed her forehead to his. “I mean yes, I’ll stay with you. I know you’re not asking for forever. Just while we’re in Detroit for now, right?”

  “Yeah.” He inhaled, his chest expanding with relief. “I’m serious about us, Danica. I need you to understand. Nothing—no one—will change that. You’re the only one I want.”

  She pressed her lips together. “That’s something we can discuss some other time. Tonight we put on a great show, we enjoy the after party, and then I’m stealing you for the rest of the night. After the conversation with Malakai, I’m thinking the van could be useful.”

  A discordant tone rang out. Malakai straightened. “Did I hear my name?”

  “Yes.” Danica shot him a crooked grin. “We’re plotting to seduce you.”

  The bassist rubbed a hand over his close shaved head. “Very funny. I’m gonna start calling you Trouble. And have a word with Alder about keeping you in line.” He gave Alder a hard look, but his eyes were shining with mirth. “After I make several girls at the after party extremely happy. Maybe a few guys too. And toast my fucking freedom.”

  “Cheers to that!” Connor called out as one of the roadies hooked up his guitar. “Can we get the sappy off the stage already? It’s killing my mojo.”

  Tate hit his drum with a Ba Bum Bang Ching! “Ignore him, Danica. He’s just jealous. I think you’re both adorable.”

  Connor snorted. “Great. You broke him.”

  Danica blushed and ducked her head. She ran her hand carefully down the side of Alder’s chest, avoiding the patched up cut under his shirt. “I’m on a roll with that tonight. You sure you’re all right?”

  Alder nodded, taking her head between his hands to kiss her artfully tussled hair. “Golden. You gonna stay and watch us?”

  “Nope. I’m going to head to the greenroom and relax for a bit. This is your thing.” She skipped out of reach. “I just needed to know things were good between us.”

  “I promise, I’d tell you if they weren’t.”

  “Same here.”

  As soon as Danica was out of sight, one of the roadies led the VIP ticket holders into the arena. Their excited chatter drew Alder’s attention, and he left his guitar with Jesse so the man could tune it and set up the audio signals with the front of house engineer.

  Pandering to the fans before shows was usually Brave’s job, but when the lead singer ran late, the task fell on the rest of them. Starting with Alder.

  He didn’t mind small groups like this though, so he hopped off the stage, nodding and smiling as the fans, about fifty of them ranging in ages from about thirteen to forty-five, called out his name and started asking questions all at once.

  “Hey, guys. Thanks for coming down to see us.” As he began to speak, they quieted, almost as though they were afraid he’d say something profound and they’d miss it. “You all ready for the show?”

  There were some shouts and fist pumps from the young men in the crowd. The rest cheered and clapped. The youngest girls giggled and stared at him.

  He avoided the gaze of one of the younger chicks who mouthed ‘I love you’ to him.

  “Before we get started with the private warm-up show, are there any questions?”

  A young lady with thick, black-framed glasses, pink hair, and a dozen piercings all over her face, stuck her hand up in the air. Her pale cheeks we
nt red when he nodded to her. “Where’s Brave? Not that I don’t love you too. I love you and I have your picture, like, everywhere in my apartment, but he’s a god.”

  “He’s probably getting his dick sucked!” A boy in the back shouted.

  “OMG, I would sooo suck his dick!” The girl who shouted ducked behind her friends. Who all looked way too young to be making that kind of offer.

  But Alder had heard worse, so he simply chuckled. “If we could avoid the topic of my brother’s dick, that would be awesome.”

  The crowd laughed.

  “Brave is doing an interview, but he should be out here soon.” Alder pulled out his phone to check the time. Brave better hurry up. Bored, restless VIPs would be a shitty way to start the night. But he had an idea on how to entertain them. “For now, how about you all line up on the side of the stage. We’ll bring you up, five at a time, and you can take pics with the band and talk to all of us.”

  The fans loved that idea.

  The one member of the band’s security detail that was present? Not so much. As Alder climbed back on stage, Skull’s brother—whose name was probably not Ballz, but that’s what everyone called him—approached Alder, his rugged face drawn with aggravation.

  “We’ve got two guys on your brother. This many people on stage with just me watching you? Not smart.” Ballz watched the fans line up, all nice and orderly, but didn’t seem impressed. “Things could get out of hand.”

  Thankfully, Jesse came to the rescue. He waved the other roadies over, then patted Ballz’s shoulder. “I couldn’t agree more, but it won’t be just you. Take care of the line while my men stick close to the boys.”

  With a curt nod, Ballz headed to the floor to keep the fans from getting ‘out of hand’.

  Alder bumped shoulders with Jesse. “Thanks. The ‘boys’ appreciate it.”

  “You’d better.” Jesse glanced over to the side stage, his brow creasing slightly. “This was a good idea, but if Brave doesn’t show up, we’re gonna have a problem.”

  Following Jesse’s gaze, Alder nodded. The fans might love the whole band, but that girl had said it best.

  Brave was their god.

  They wouldn’t be satisfied without him. And then Ballz’s might have a real reason to worry.

  In the greenroom, Danica tried to keep out of the way as the police interviewed Brave and the band’s two security guards. She held the mug of coffee she’d poured before everything had gone to hell in her cold hands, chewing on her bottom lip, struggling to hold back nausea as one of the cops bagged the evidence.

  Brave hadn’t even been able to wash his hands after opening ‘the gift’.

  And he looked just as sick as she felt.

  When she’d come into the room, Brave was posing for pictures for the journalist, a bored expression on his face. He’d given Danica a rare smile, but kept his focus on the tall blond woman who spoke at him endlessly, only pausing to breathe when she shot questions at him.

  Extremely personal questions. Some about Valor, which seemed to please Cole, who’d stood behind the cameraman, a smug smile on his lips.

  Just when Brave looked ready to cut the interview short, one of the arena’s young staff members bolted into the room, holding a black, heart-shaped box with a red ribbon wrapped around it.

  He stuttered something unintelligible as he held the box out to Brave.

  Brave gave the harried young man an indulgent smile. “Thanks, kid. I love chocolate.”

  “N-not from m-me.” The boy’s cheeks went beat-red. “Some guy d-dropped it o-o-off for y-you.”

  “Well, thanks for bringing it then.” Brave turned away from the journalist and undid the ribbon.

  The box hit the floor.

  “What the fuck!” Brave backed away from it.

  Danica put her hand over her mouth as her lips parted. Sitting in the center of the box was a heart.

  A real heart.

  The boy burst out crying, tripping away from Brave when he tried to grab him. “I-I d-didn’t—”

  One of the security guards was already on the phone with the police. The other quickly dragged the boy out of the room. Not too roughly at least, but Danica felt so bad for the kid. She didn’t believe for a second that he’d known what was in that box. He’d just been doing his job.

  And now, the journalist was showing the same sickening glee as Cole while the police finished their report. She was getting a much better story than Brave would have given her.

  Ignoring them both, Brave approached the cop who was bagging the card that had been in the box with the heart.

  He cleared his throat as the cop looked over at him. “What does it say?”

  The cop made a face. “You sure you want to know?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It says ‘The day he became immortal is coming. And you will join him. With all my heart, your biggest fan.’”

  Brave’s pale face took on a green cast. He took off toward the bathroom.

  The other cop touched Danica’s arm before she could follow him. She gave Danica a card. “If you or Mr. Trousseau think of anything else, please give us a call.”

  “We will. Thank you.” Danica took the card and slid it into the back pocket of her uber-short, cut-off jean shorts. “Do you think he’s in danger?”

  “Between this and prior incidents, I would advise he take every possible precaution. I don’t want to speculate, but he seems to have a very determined stalker.” The female cop’s lips thinned. “Unfortunately, situations like this tend to escalate.”

  “But we won’t have to cancel the show?” Cole came up beside the cop, looking alarmed for the first time. “With the security in the arena—”

  “You should tighten security, but between your men and the police presence, I imagine the suspect will make himself scarce.” The cop shot Cole an icy glare. “But I appreciate your concern.”

  “Concern is all well and good, but as they say, the show must go on,” Cole said, with a charming smile for the cop.

  Needing to get away from Cole before she ended up slapping him, Danica quickly made her way to the bathroom.

  On his knees by a toilet, head against the wall of the stall, Brave looked so fucking vulnerable, she didn’t hesitate to walk straight up to him and bend down to give him a hug. She wasn’t sure whether he would welcome comfort from her, or if he’d lash out, but she had to let him to know she was here if he needed her.

  He wrapped his arms around her waist, releasing a shaky laugh. “I’m fucking pathetic. Wasn’t even a human heart. A goddamn cow heart from a butcher or something.”

  “Which makes it okay?”

  “No, but I can’t be freaking out. Shit like this happens.” He tipped his head back, eyes closed. “Just…why now? No, don’t bother answering. I know why now. But it’s fucked up, you know?”

  “I know.” She smoothed the damp hair sticking to his forehead away from his face. “Tell me what you want to do. If you want to cancel the show, you know the band will stand behind you. Fuck what Cole wants.”

  Brave snorted, shaking his head as he rose to his feet. “Naw, I need to be on stage. Show that fucker he didn’t get to me.”

  “I totally get that. But you do know no one is gonna leave you alone for a fucking second, right?” She cupped his cheek in her hand as she looked up at him. “Be careful until this sick freak is caught.”

  He nodded, dropping his gaze to the thigh high boots covering his snug black jeans. “I’ll be careful, but promise me something?”

  She had a bad feeling about this. “Okay…?”

  “Don’t tell anyone. Not before the show. They’ll be too distracted and this is one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever played for. We need to put on the best performance of our careers.”

  Damn it, he was right. But Alder and Jesse would not be very happy when they learned she’d kept this from them.

  Not only that, but were her acting skills up to the task? The bit of coffee she’d drank churned in her
stomach every time she remembered that pale heart, sitting in that pretty box.

  “Please, Danica? Look, I’ll owe you one. I’ll even break things off with Jesse.” Brave’s lips twitched when she gaped at him. “I was gonna do it anyway. I’m aware I’ve been a complete dick, hanging on to him.”

  “Yes, you have.”

  “But, if you think about it, would you and Alder be together if I hadn’t hooked up with Jesse? Really, you should thank me.”

  All right, apparently he was feeling better. She sighed and shook her head. “I’m not thanking you. But I won’t say anything to the guys.”

  “Good.”

  “You are telling them after the show though.” She folded her arms over her chest, biting back a smile as Brave rolled his eyes and went to wash his hands. “You want the band to succeed? Start acting like you’re in this together.”

  He snorted. “Next thing you’re gonna ask me to be nicer to my brother.”

  “Is that really unreasonable?”

  “No.” He shrugged, looking at himself in the mirror as he carefully schooled his features. “I’d say I’d try, but I don’t want to lie to you.”

  She threw her hands up in the air, groaning with frustration. “Damn it, Brave, why is it so fucking hard for you to be close to him? Alder loves you!”

  “I know.” Brave faced her, a stiff smile on his lips. “But it would be better for him if he didn’t.”

  Jesse tensed as the crowd that had been calm and orderly for almost half an hour suddenly lost their damn minds. Those still waiting in line lost it first. Then the ones on stage caught sight of whatever was causing the commotion and began flocking toward the side stage.

  Standing way over on the other end with Alder, he couldn’t see what was going on, but it didn’t take long to figure out when he spotted one of Brave’s security guards forcibly pressing through the throng.

  “Back off or everyone will be forced to leave!” Ballz shouted as he tried to block the line that was now a jumbled mass of bodies. “I won’t tell you twice!”